Skinny Puppy Say Latest Album Was an ‘Invoice’ to U.S. Government for Alleged Torture Practices

We've heard stories of the U.S. military using music as a means of torture during interrogations, as it has been reported that metal songs have been used to soften up prisoners of war. Veteran industrial act Skinny Puppy apparently heard that their music was used to torture prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, and the band says their latest album, 'Weapon,' serves as an 'invoice' to the U.S. government for use of their music.

Last year, a Navy SEAL, who claimed to have fatally shot Osama Bin Laden stated that Metallica and Demon Hunter music was used to "soften up" people before interrogations. The SEAL claimed that Demon Hunter had willfully submitted their music for such purposes, but the band denied the story in a written statement. "We have no specific knowledge of our music being used for this," part of the statement reads, "nor have we ever volunteered it to be used as such, nor are we commenting on it beyond that." Though denying the claim, Demon Hunter offered their unwavering support to our men and women in uniform.

Skinny Puppy, however, have offered a much different response to the reports of military usage of the band's music. “We heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used in Guantanamo Bay prison camps to musically stun or torture people. We heard that our music was used on at least four occasions,” multi-instrumentalist cEvin Key tells the Phoenix New Times. “So we thought it would be a good idea to make an invoice to the U.S. government for musical services, thus the concept of the record title, Weapon.”

However, he further explains, "We never sent [an actual invoice]. The album cover is the invoice. The original impetus of recording the album was those two concepts: the torture and the invoice."

Key was asked how he personally felt about the situation. “Not too good," he states. "We never supported those types of scenarios. Because we make unsettling music, we can see it being used in a weird way. But it doesn’t sit right with us.”